Die-cutting apparatus



Jan. 22, 1929.

R. H. STQNE DIE CUTTING APPARATUS Filed Feb. 19, 1927 4 Sheets-Sheet l fin ,ZAW TTORNEY Jan. 22, 1929. 1,699,720

R. H. STQNE DIE CUTTING APPARATUS Filed Feb. 19, 1927 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 v J INVENTOR.

BY VZLQMCRNEY Jan. 22,v 1929.

R. H. STONE DIE CUTTING APPARATUS Filed Feb. 19, 1927 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Y 71 4,1 ATTORNEY fa INVENTOR.

Jan. 22, 1929.

1,699,720 I R. H. STONE DIE CUTTING APPARATUS 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Feb. 19, 1927 1N VEN TOR.

fl A m ATTORNEY M /O 144 6 W Potented Jan. M29

B. HARRY STONE, OF IPJVINGTOII, NEW

METAL 110E533 ash.

DIE-CUTTING AI-L ARAIU Application filed February lfi, 192?. Serial No.

lily invention relates to apparatus for torniiire dies and has for an object to provide a machine oi simple construction in which dies may be readily made to uniform stench srds of form and dimension.

A specific object of my invention is to provide a. machine tor forming certaindies used in, making inetal hose ot' the typecomprising' a spirally wound inetnl ribbon. hose the edges of the ribbon are formed to interlock by passhig;- them through dies, and the weer on the dies in service is so severe that the dies niust be frequently replaced with new ones. The form oi. the dies peculiar and somewhat lnlll'lfldllfi and her ofore they have had to be made by hand at consideraliile expense, owing); to the precision in form and dimension requisite. Hence the replacement of dies in such metal hose inzuiutacture has involved a high maintenance item.

It is an object of my invention to provide a semi-automatic die-cutting machine which will reduce the time and cost of making; new dies tor metal hose manufacture and which will insure uniformity in the dies and a strict adherence to standards of form and dimension.

Another object of my invention is to provide a machine which will form a die in a minimum number of operations.

ll hile a specific object ot my invention is to provide a machine for mahi I dies used in n'ietal hose manufacture, it will be evident that my invention could also be used in terminoother products and hence I do not limit my invention to the specific application shove relerrz-zd to.

l l ith the above named objects in view and other objects which will appear hereinafter, I shall now describe an elnlmdintient off my invention and define the novelty and scope of my invention in the claiu'is.

lo. the uccoinpanyinn' drawings.

we 1 i a side view of my improved diezi plan view out the machine with certain parts b when sway Fig.1; 3 is a side view partly in section, of n. fragment of my machine showing the M12111- .ne of mountings. die-blank in the machine; o elis an end view. partly broken away, of the ports shown in 3 l and 6 are end views of a die after the ii 1. and final oi'ierntions, respectively have been performed thereon by the machine;

in such hese formed in the direction of the arrows 9 and 10 respectively.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2 my improved die-cutting machine provided with a near opposite ends thereof with we s 16 and 1? respectively. These ways are adapted, to support carriages 18 H and 19 respectively. Between the ways are a pair of brackets 20 bolted to the base and adapted to provide bearings for a swindle 621. lvlounted on the spindle beeon the brackets 20 is adriving pulley 22 which has spline connection with the spindle so as to permit the spindle to slide axially in its hearings. At the right-hand end of the spindle, as viewed in the drawings, 1 provide a plate 23 which is preferably s awed upon the spindle, as shown in Fig. 3. Jecured to the opposite end of the spindle is a cam plate 24. A compression coil spring 25 is fitted about the spindle 21 between the cam plate 24.- and the adjacent bracket 20. This serves normally to press the spindle 6,l1(l\\"1. fe t )\\t1(l the left, as shown in drawll. stop screw 26 which passes through a threaded bore in a bracket 27 secured to the left-hand end of the machine, serves to hold the earn from engagement with the tracing; finger 4:6 under the influence of the spring 2! during periods of adjustment or at any desired times. The stop screw is provided with a handle 28 by which the screw may be adjusted in the bracket 27.

feed screw 29 mounted in suitable beerings end 31 at the front and rear respec tively, oi the machine serves to feed the carria e 18 transversely across the base 15. The :l 'ee'. screw 29 carries a handle 32 the forweiwl one, and mounted on the feed screw adjacent the handle, is a graduated collar 33 which iiirovides means for determining the Ill controlled by a handle 37 and the longitudinal movement parallel to the spindle by a handle 38.

Mounted at the opposite end of the machine is a feed screw 39 which extends transversely across the base and is supported in suitable bearings and 11 at the front and rear respectively, of the machine. This feed screw serves to feed the carriage 19 transversely across the machine. Like the feed screw 29 the feed screw 39 is provided with a handle 12 and with a graduated collar 43. Rising from the face of the carriage 19 is a post 44 which supports a collar i5 provided. with a lug or tracing finger 46.

The'feed screws 29 and 39 are adapted to turn in mutually tiined relation. To this end the feed screw 29 at its rear end carries a bevel gear 4:7 which engages a pinion 48 mounted on a shaft 49. The latter has bearings in brackets 50 and 51 secured to the rear of the base 15. The shaft 19 at the left-hand end thereof carries bevel gear 52 which meshes with a bevel pinion 53 secured upon the rear end of the feed screw 39. Thus when the screw 29 turns, the screw 39 is also turned, but at a higher speed, due to the step up gearing connecting the feed screws. Hence for any given transverse movement of the carriage 18 there is a corresponding but multiplied movement in transverse direction of the carriage 19. It will also be observed that the feed screws 29 and 39 turn in opposite directions and because both of the screws have right-hand threads, one carriagewill travel forward while the other carriage is traveling toward the rear.

The form of the dies which this machine is especially adapted'to cut, is shown in Figs.

6, 8 and 10. It is to be understood, however, that while the apparatus is so especially adapted it may be used to cut other and different forms of dies. The manner of forming the particular form of die shown in the drawing wilLnow be described as illustrative. The die-blank is a hollow cylindrical. member which is. cut away at one side by a slot 55. This slot extends from the cutting face of the die to a point near the base or opposite face ofthe die. One wall 56 of the slot lies in. a plane radial. to the axis of the cylinder, while the opposite wall 57 lies approximately at right angles to the wall 56. The finished die is formed with a stepped spiral cutting face comprising two narrow co-axial spiral ledges. The inner ledge 58 projects beyond the outer ledge 59 and is bounded on the inside by theinner peripheral wall of the hol low die-blank and 011 the outside by a cylindrical wall 60. The pitch of the ledges is right-handed, in other words, it advances from the wall 56 to the wall 57. The outer spiral ledge 59 however has a sharper pitch than the inner spiral ledge 58 and a conoidal tapered wall 60 serves to connect wall 60 and the ledge 59. Adjacent the wall 56 the pitch. of the ledges changes to a steeper grade, as indicated at 61 and 62 respectively.

The manner of securing a die-blank upon the face-plate 23 is illustrated in Fig. 3. The faceplate is formed with a recess 63 in which is fitted aclutch plate (i l. The latter is provided with a central bore 65 into which projects a radial pin 66. The bore 65 is of a size to snugly engage the body of a die-blank. A die-blank is inserted into the bore 65 from the rear of the plate with the pin 66 entering the slot 65 and engagingthe wall 56. In this position the die-blank may be held by a set screw 67, which is threaded radially through the plate 64:. The plate (iii: is narrower than the length of the die-blank so that the latter projects from the front face of the plate far enough to permit of cutting the spiral face of the die. After the die-blank has been inserted in the plate 64, the latter is seated in the recess 63 and secured by means of bolts 68. These bolts draw the blank into the recess 63 which serves to center the die accurately with respect to the spindle 21.

In operation the die-blank is first cut to form the inner spiral ledge 58 which, as eX- plained before, stands out in relief from the rest of the cutting face, and is bounded by a vertical wall 60 at the outer periphery thereof. The cam plate 524 is accordingly formed with two concentric face cams 70 and 71 respectively, the outer cam 71 being used to control the first cutting operation in which the inner spiral ledge 58 is formed, while the inner cam surface 70 is used in the second. cutting operation to control the cutting of the surfaces 59 and 60'. F or the first operation therefore the tracer finger 46 must be moved into contact with the outer can'i surface 71, which is done turning the feed screw 39 to move the linger 4.6 into contact with the outer cam 71. In the meantime it is necessary to move the spindle 21 toward the right so that the finger 46 will clear the surface of the cam. while it is being adjusted. to initial position. Such axial movement of the spindle is effected by screwing the set screw 26 against the cam until. it has been moved sufficiently to clear the tracer finger. After the linger has been properly positioned the set screw is turned baclu releasing the cam so that it will be forced by the spring 25 against the finger 46.

The faceof the annular cam 71 is in the form of a spiral which parallels the face of the ledge 58 which to be cut in the end of i the die. In other words, the spiral of the cam although much larger than that of the to the face-plate 23 I or) die has the same axial advance per unit of angular displacement as the spi 'al of the ledge 58 and includes a change of pitch through a certain portion of the cam surface to firm the steeper part 61 of the ledge.

'll 1e pulley 22 turns in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. 2, and as the die-blank is rotated by the pulley, it is advanced toward the tool 36 by engagement of the cam 71 with the tracer finger d6, and, consequently, the tool makes a spiral cut in the end of the die blank which extends from the wall 57 to the wall 56 and parallels the cam surface. The cam 70 is also provided with a reversely spiralled surface which. permits the die-blank to return. axially to its original position under pressure of spring 25, while the slotted part of the die-blank is passing the tool. By this means the entire end surface of the blank is faced elf on a spiral coinciding with the faces 58 and 60. It will be understood, of course, that a number of cuts are required to face ell the end of the die and in making this cut the carriages 18 and. 19 preferably remain stationary while the tool as is fed transversely by operating the handle 37 and axially by operating the handle 38.

after the entire face of the blank has been properly faced off, the outer portion of the surface is cut down to a greater depth, as shown at 69, so as to leave the ledge 58 stand .ing out in relief and bounded on the outer edge by the cylindrical wall 60. This con; pletesthe first operation on the die-blank which is controlled as and the die then Figs. 5, 7 and 9.

In the second operation the outer ledge 59 and eonoidal wall are formed under control of the inner cam 70. The stop screw 26 is first adjusted to move the cam plate 24 ani ally to the right, so that the finger 46 may be adjusted to proper position with respect to the cam '71, after which the stop screw is rel'ractml to permit the cam to engage the tracer finger. Also the tool 36 is adjusted to the work either by adjusting the tool in the post or the feeds controlled by the handles 37 and. 38 or all of them. The cam 70 reacting against the finger 46 feeds the die toward the tool 36 at such a rate with respect to its angular movement as to cut the ledge 59 with its sharply inclined portion 62 in the outer part of the face 69. The cam 70 is also so formed as to cause the conoidal face 60 to he cut in the die-blank, connecting the ledges 5!) to the base of the wall 60. ()Winp; to the varying taper or inclination of the conoidal wall. 60, the die-blank must be shifted axially to pitch by the cam 71 presents the form shown in i n pro ')er proportion to the transverse feed. of

the tool 36. For this reason. the carriage 18 geared. to travel in timed relation to the travel of the carriage 19, so that as the finger 46 traverses the cam 70 and moves the dieblank toard the tool the latter will have a proportionate transverse movement- In order to provide for extreme accuracy in cutting the dies the cam 70 is made many times larger in diameter than the die, and hence the speed of the tracer carriage 19 is proportionately greater than the speed of the tool carriage 18. In the second operation transverse feed is controlled not by the handle 37 but by the feed screw 29 which may be operated either by the hand-wheel 32 or by the hand-wheel 42, the latter permitting of a very fine transverse feed of the tool. It may be noted that the surface of the cam 70 reversed with respect to the surface to be cut in the die-blank because the finger 46 travels radially outward while the tool 36 travels radially inward toward the axis of the spindle As in the case of ca1n71, the cam 70 is provided with a reversely spiralled surface which operates to return the die-blank to its original longitudinal position, while the slotted portion thereof is passing the tool 36.

l have described in considerable detail a specific form of die-blank and the manner in which it is cut on the machine, but it is very evident that other forms may be cut in a piece of work carried by the spindle without involving any change in inymachine, other than that of ri-zplacing the cams 70 and 71 with different cams. It will also be understood that various changes could be made in the form and structure of my improved machine without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention as defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a machine of the character described, a'spindle mounted to rotate and to reciprocate axially, a chuck mounted on one end of the spind1e,'a cam mounted on the other end of the spindle, a tracer, a spring adapted to press the cam against the tracer whereby the cam and tracer will co-act to reciprocate the spindle during rotation thereof, means operating to feed the tracer radially across the face of the cam during rotation of the spindle, a tool adapted to beheld in cutting engagement with a piece of work held in the chuck and a mechanism for moving the operating means and tools.

2. In a machine of the character described, a spindle mounted to rotate and to reciprocate axially, a chuck mounted on one end of the spindle, a cam mounted on the other end of the spindle, a tracer, a spring adapted to press the cam against the tracer whereby the cam and tracer will co-act to reciprocate the spindle during rotation thereof, means operating to feed the tracer radially across the face of the cam during rotation of the spindle, a tool adapted to cut a piece of work held in the chuck,and a means for feeding the tool transverscly across the face of the work cooperating with the operating means.

3. In a machine of the character described, a spindle mounted to rotate and to reciprocate axially, a chuck mounted on one end of the spindle, a cam mounted on the other end of the spindle, a tracer, a spring adapted to press the cam. against the tracer whereby the cam Mi l] and tracer will co-act to reciprocate the spindle during rotation thereof, means for feeding the tracer radially across the face of the cam during rotation of the spindle, a tool adapted to cut a piece of work held in the chuck, and means for feeding the tool transversely across the face of the work, in timed relation to the movement of the tracer across the face of the cam.

4. In a machine of the character described, a spindle mounted to rotate and to reciprocate axially, a chuck mounted on one end of the spindle, a cam mounted on the other end of the spindle, a tracer, a spring adapted to press the cam. against the tracer whereby the cam and tracer will co-act to reciprocate the spindle during rotation thereof, means for feeding the t 'acer radially across the face of the cam during rotation of the spindle, a tool adapted to cut a piece of work held in the chuck, means for feeding the tool transversely to the axis of the spindle in timed relation to the movement of the tr: cer across the face of the cam, and independent means for feeding the tool transversely to the spindle.

5. In amachine of the character described, a spindle mounted to rotate and to reciprocate axially, a chuck mounted on one end of the spindle, a cam mounted on the other end of the spindle, a tracer, a spring adapted to press the cam against the tracer whereby the spindle will be reciprocated during rotation thereof, means for feeding the tracer radially across the face of the cam, a tool adapted to cut a piece of work held in the chuck, means for feeding the tool transversely t0 the spindle in timed relation to the movement of the tracer across the face of the cam, independent means for feeding the tool transversely to the spindle, and means for feeding the tool in a 7 direction parallel to the axis of the spindle.

6. In a machine of the character described, a spindle mounted to rotate and to reciprocate axially, a chuck mounted on one end of the spindle, a cam mounted on the other end of the spindle, a tracer, a spring adapted to press the cam against the tracer whereby the spindle will be rcciprocated during rotation thereof, means for feeding the tracer radially across the face of the cam, a tool adapted to cut the face of a piece of work held in the chuck, and means for feeding the tool transversely to the spindle, the cam having a larger diameter than the face of the work and the feed of the tracer being proportionately greater than. the feed of the tool.

7. In a machine of the character described, a spin dle mounted to rotate and to reciprocate axially, a chuck mounted on one end of the spindle and adapted to hold a piece of work, a cam plate'mounted on the other end of the spindle, said plate being formed with a pair of concentric cam surfaces on the face thereof, the radius of the inner cam surface being greater than the radius of the face of the of the work with. respect to the cam,

wr n'k, a tracer, a. spring adapted to press the cam surfaces against the tracer whereby the spindle will be reciprocated during rotation thereof, means for feeding the tracer radially across the cam surfaces, a tooladapted to be moved into cutting engagement with the work, means for feeding the tool across the face of the work in timed ratio to the movement of the tracer across the face of the cam, said ratio being equal to the ratio of said inner cam face with respect to the face of the work.

8. In a mach inc of the ch ari'lctcr described, a spindle mounted to rotate and to reciprocate axially, a chuck mounted on one end of the spindle and adapted to hold a piece of work, a cam plate mounted on the other end of the spindle, said plate being formed with a pair of concentric cam surfaces on the face thereof, a tracer, a spring adapted topress the cam face of the plate against the tracer whereby the spindle will be reciprocated during rotation thereof, means for feeding the tracer transversely to the spindle, a tool adapted to cut the face of a piece of work held in the chuck, and means for feeding the tool transversely of the spindle, the radius of one of the cam surfaces being greater than the radius of the face of the work, and the feed of the tracer being proportionately greater than the feed of the tool.

9. In a machine of the character described, a spindle mounted to rotate and to slide axially a chuck at one end of the spindle adapted to hold a piece ofwork, a cam. at the other end of the spindle, a tracer, a cutting tool adapted to be held in cutting engagement with the work, said cam and finger co-acting to reciprocate the spindle during cutting of the work,

and means in the chuck for positionin the work angularly with respect to the cam.

10. In a machine of the character described, a spindle mounted to rotate and to slide axially, a chuck at one end of the spindle adapted to hold a piece of work, a cam at the other end of the spindle, a tracer, adapted to be held in cuttin engagement with the work, ,i aid cam and finger co-acting to reciprocate the spindle during cutting of the work, the work being formed with a slot, and a pin in the chuck adapted to engage a wall of the slot to fix the angular position of the work with respect to the cam.

11. In a machine of the characi 01' described, a spindle mounted to rotate and to slide axially, a chuck at one end of the spindle adapted to hold a piece of work, a can] at the other end of the spindle, a tracer, a cutting tool adapted to be held in cutting engagement with the work, said cam and finger co-actin to reciprocate the spindle during cutting of the work, the work being formed with a slot. and a pin in the chuck adapted to engage a wall of the slot to fix the angular position and a set a cutti n tool screw in the chuck for holding the work in said angular position.

12. In amachine of the character described, a base, a tracer carriage movable across the base at one end thereof, a tool carriage movable across the base at the other end thereof, feed screws adapted respectively to move the tracer carriage and the tool carriage, a train of gears connecting the feed screws, a spindle mounted to rotate between the carriages on an axis transverse to the movement of theca-rriages, said spindle being also movable axially, a chuck mounted on the spindle adjacent the tool carriage, aface cam mounted on the spindle adjacent the tracer carriage, a tracer finger carried by the tracer carriage and adapted to engage the cam to move the spindle axially during rotation thereof, a spring acting to hold the cam in engagement with the tracer finger, and a tool carried by the tool carriage and adapted to cut the work held in the chuck.

13. In a machine of the character described, a base, a tracer carriage movable across the base at one end thereof, a tool carriage movable across the base at the other end thereof, feed screws adapted respectively to move the tracer carriage and the tool carriage, a train of gears connecting the feed screws, a spindle mounted to rotate between the carriages on an axis transverse to the movement of the carriages, said spindle being also movable axial- 1y, a chuck mounted on said spindle adjacent the tool carriage, a face cam mounted on the spindle adjacent the tracer carriage, a tracer finger carried by the tracer carriage, and adapted to engage the cam to move the spindle axially during rotation thereof, a spring acting to hold the cam in engagement with the tracer finger, a slide rest carried by the tool carriage, and a tool carried by the slide rest.

14:- In a machine of the character described, a base, a tracer carriage movable across the base at one end thereof, a tool carriage movable across the base at the other end thereof, 7

feed screws adapted respectively to move the tracer carriage and the tool carriage, a train of gears connecting the feed screws, a spindle mounted to rotate between the carriages on an axis transverse to the movement of the carriages, said spindle being also movable axial- 1y, a chuck mounted on the spindle adjacent the tool carriage, a face cam mounted on the spindle adjacent the tracer carriage, a tracer linger carried by the tracer carriage and adapted to engage the cam to move the spindle axially during rotation thereof, a spring acting to hold the cam in engagement with the tracer finger, a slide rest carried by the tool carriage, and a tool carried by the slide rest, the tool being adapted to cut the face of a piece of work held in the chuck, the cam being of larger diameter than the face of the work and the movement of thetracer carriage being proportionately greater than the movement of the tool carriage.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification this 19th "day of January, 1927.

R. HARRY STONE. 

